Parental Management of Young Children's Diabetes

Summary

Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong metabolic disorder that affects 1 out of every 400-600 American children each year, with many children being diagnosed at younger and younger ages.

To achieve proper diabetes control, it is necessary to conform or adhere one's behavior to a physician-prescribed diabetes self-care regimen. As such, parents of children with Type 1 diabetes must be highly involved in managing their child's disease on a daily basis, especially parents of affected children who are very young and more highly dependent upon parental caretaking.

As children diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at a very young age may be at an increased risk for the development of long-term behavioral and medical complications, more research is needed to understand and treat the leading contributors to diabetes-related parental distress and medical outcomes among this growing subgroup.

Recent findings indicate that responsibility for diabetes management falls heavily on mothers. The majority of families do not receive outside child care assistance and report feeling overwhelmed. Parents report high levels of pediatric parenting stress difficulty, as well as moderate symptoms of anxiety. The current study aims to expand such preliminary findings and specifically examine the effects of a newly-developed parenting support program for parents of young children with Type 1 diabetes. The utility of the intervention will be evaluated. It is hypothesized that parents completing the parent support program will report lower levels of psychosocial distress and improved quality of life. It is hypothesized that the children of participating parents will also demonstrate improved quality of life and metabolic control.

Conditions

• Type 1 Diabetes

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Parental Support

The intervention utilizes cognitive behavioral strategies. Session 1 uses relaxation and cognitive reframing and explores parents' responses to the challenges of parenting a child with diabetes. Session 2 focuses on the emotional impact of having a child with diabetes and utilizes problem solving techniques. Session 3 focuses on child behavior and strategies for effective parenting. To facilitate support and community, Session 4 is a group session via conference call to discuss issues related to social support. Session 5 focuses on the impact diabetes has on the family and parents are taught cognitive reframing to help with managing diabetes. Parents are invited to participate in an Internet bulletin board moderated by trial personnel.

BEHAVIORAL

Diabetes Education

The education comparison group also participates in 5 sessions across 9 weeks. This group provides educational and resource support that is specific to managing diabetes in young children. Education topics include blood glucose monitoring, nutrition, and physical activity. Print materials are provided to participants and intervention sessions focus on talking points raised in these reading materials.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Children's National Research Institute

  collaborator OTHER

• Virginia Commonwealth University

  collaborator OTHER

• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

  lead NIH

Principal Investigators

• Randi Streisand, Ph.D. · Children's National Research Institute

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

1 Year

Max Age

6 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2008-04-30

Primary Completion

2013-08-31

Completion

2013-08-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations